But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Rom. 3:21-24 (NIV)
Heavenly Father, as I marinate in this remarkable passage, once again I realize there’s simply no such thing as “moving on from the gospel”—no basis for ever saying “I’ve got the gospel, now what’s next?” For the gospel isn’t just about how we begin the Christian life, it’s how we live it, love it, and end it.
Indeed, the gospel isn’t the ABC’s of this life of grace; it’s the A to Z, the Alpha to the Omega, the prelude through the closing credits, the appetizer through the dessert.
All of the Scriptures—the Law, Prophets and Psalms all pointed toward the day you sent Jesus into the world, to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Jesus is our substitute to trust before he is our model to follow. We’re saved by his works, not ours.
By faith in Jesus, you now declare us to be exhaustively forgiven and fully justified. You cannot love us more, and you’ll never love us less. We can’t add to your love for us by our good works; and we can’t diminish your love, by our foolishness and failures. Father, if you hadn’t written this good news plainly in your Word, we wouldn’t believe it. It seems too good to be true.
How then shall we live this life of radical grace? Compelled by your love, Father, we want to live, love, and die to your glory. As those no longer condemned for our sins, we purpose to obey you from our hearts. We want to serve you all our days, and honor you with everything we have, do, and say. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ exquisite and exalted name.
